Too Much Too Soon
by Kateh is Smithereens
Summary: Claire jets back to L.A. to take a chance on a new career. Massie is working on a plan to gain back her popularity. Dylan's dad shows up. Is this all too much too soon?
1. Chapter 1

**a/n:First story. R&R Hope you like it. Reviews are welcome if they contain an opinion or criticism. I'd like to thank the shan part of shancoot2 for uploading this story! Thanks Shannon!**

The Talent Farm

Waiting Room

Thursday, April 10

4:30 p.m.

"Mr. Miles Baime will see you now." said the plastic surgery enhanced face of The Talent Farm's receptionist. Claire guessed that she was about forty, but she was trying to look twenty. "His office is to the left and at the very end of the hallway." She spoke like she thought Claire was from China by spacing her words out.

"Thank you... Robin." Claire said after looking at the woman's name tag. Robin, She thought, what a perfect name to match her beach blonde hair and fake smile. Claire rolled her eyes, almost forgetting how nervous she was.

She walked forward and took a left, her heart beating all the way. She looked at the long hallway. She knew that it was just long enough for her to figure out at least 1,000 reasons why she should be back home on her way to the office.

The first ten reasons had to do with Cam. The next ten- the Pretty Committee. She thought of a few odd and end reasons about her family, OCD, and Layne.

Claire thought that walking down this hallway was like climbing a mountain. You could turn back and go home if the terrain was too tough, or you could take a chance and climb all the way to the top. When you get there, you might either bask in success, or accidentally fall off the edge and plunge to your death.

By now she was at Mr Baime's office door. She moved her hand slowly towards the ornate door knob, wondering if she should open it. Why take this chance when her whole life was back in Westchester? Why take the risk of following her dreams when her life back home was fine?

Claire didn't want to settle for 'fine'. She wanted to be remembered for something, not just for being friends with Massie Block.

In the heat of the moment, she thrust her hand towards the door and opened it. Unaware of what will happen to her if she makes it- just like the mountain.

The Block Estate

Thursday, April 10

6:38 p.m.

When Massie Block woke up on Monday morning, there was a hollow feeling inside her, where drama and excitement used to be. She thought the day would be exciting (it was the PC's -except Claire's- first day back at OCD after they got expelled), but it wasn't. The feeling stayed up until today, which was when she figured out why it was there.

She found out during American History. She'd been thinking about it all week, and then she found out what was wrong.

Nothing! Nothing at all was wrong! Everything was how it was when she'd left it. It's like someone pressed the pause button on her life right before she got expelled. Everyone still worshiped her, she was still the number one trendsetter at OCD, and still got freebies from Sage at her cocktail kiosk, Virgins. But life was useless with out drama (at least, hers was).

Right on cue, her new T Mobile Sidekick started buzzing. Alicia was sending her a text message.ྭ

ALICIA: Omg! Omg! OMG!

MASSIE?????

ALICIA: new mall!

MASSIE: again- ???

ALICIA: ill call u

Seconds later, Massie's Razr started ringing.

"Explain." She said into it.

"Ehmagawd, you will nawt believe this!" Alicia practically screeched into the phone. This must have been big news. At least, big to Alicia.

"I'm sure I will if you ever tell me."

"Okay, fine," She sighed,"There's a new mall opening..." Alicia paused for dramatic effect,"SATURDAY!"

"So?" Massie said, completely distracted by an ad at the top of the web page she was on of a buzzing mosquito.

"So? Mass, this is _the_ mall. My dad knows the guy running it and you will not believe it!"

"I'm sure I will if you ev-"

"Shuddup. Anyway, it's even bigger than the Westchester, and it only has high class stores in it."

"Ooooookay" Massie said, stretching out her 'O' to annoy Alicia.

"Mass!"

"Leesh, I'm just kidding." Massie said, even though she wasn't.

"Good" Alicia said back. "Also, my dad told me that Ralph Lauren will be there to open his-" When Alicia starts to go off on something, Massie usually takes it as a cue to start thinking about something totally different. She knew that malls and Ralph Lauren were her best cues when talking to Alicia. Somewhere after Alicia said, "and the Sephora is so big, it takes up three levels!" Massie knew it! She was going to do something big! Something the girls at OCD have never seen before! Something that would make them forget about 'Claire the Actress'. She didn't know what it was, but it was gonna be big.

"And the Coach store has a-"

"Bye, Leesh." Massie said without an explanation. She didn't care if Alicia was offended, by now she had Her blue and lilac Clairefontaine notebook out, and was planning.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n- Thanks for the reviews (even thought they were from my friends... THEY HAVE TO SAY THEY LIKE IT!) This chapter is all about Dylan. **

The Marvil Estate

7:52 p.m.

April 11

Dylan had lots on her mind. From her friends to boys (especially her weight). She felt like life couldn't get worse. She's not suicidal, but still, it's rock bottom. Kristen's IMs didn't help much, either. All she talked about was grades and, well, not much else (except for homework, studying, and tests).

'I might as well live with it', she thought, while digging into her box of bran cereal.

For the next ten minutes, she tried to be a good friend and listen to Kristen babble on about Mrs. Mabaum's 'unfair' grading scale, and how she deserved 'at least a 97' for her paper on monotheism, because of her 'clever use' of comparing Judaism and Catholicism. But soon after, Dylan went back to using "yup" and "w/e" to answer Kristen's stupid babblings. She knew Kristen will resent her for it later, but right then she didn't care.

KRISTEN: also, monotheism is sometimes compared to be the same as secular humanism, but ppl who do that need to brush up on their religion.

DYLAN: w/e K, i g2g

She logged off without another word typed into the box. Tomorrow was gonna be a hard day, with Kristen mad at her, and with Massie snapping at everyone and grouching around about not being popular anymore.

'That's all tomorrow', Dylan thought, 'I can relax until then...'

Dylan sat on her bed and put herself into a yoga position to calm herself down. She started taking yoga because she had panic attacks after being expelled. Finally, for the first time all day, she was completely zen and undisturbed.

Diiiiiiing-Doooong

Her moment of peace was over right when the doorbell rang. She tiptoed to her door and put her ear against it to hear her mom answer the door, so she could find out who it was.

"What are you doing here!' Called her mom's voice, "I thought you left us alone- _for good_!"

"Merri-Lee, please, just let me explain." Said a man's voice.

"You had a chance to explain_ ten years ago!_" Merri-Lee half choked- half screamed,"You know why you had to leave then, and you know why you have to leave now!"

Dylan, obviously shocked, threw open her door and raced down the staircase to see who this person was.

When Merri-Lee saw her daughter, her face turned red with rage, and shouted, "Dylan! Go back to your room, NOW!"

Dylan was unfazed by her mom's purple face, instead she stared at the man, "Who are you?" She asked. He had her shimmering green eyes. She'd always wondered where she got them from...

"Dylan, sweetie," he began.

'Why is he calling me sweetie, and why is he here? Why does he have the same-'

"Gerald, please, stop." Terri-Lee said, interrupting Dylan's thoughts.

"MERRI-LEE! I know you like to use your mouth a lot- specifically to talk about _yourself_ most of the time- but she deserves to know," He spat back at Merri-Lee.

"Know _what_?" Dylan was getting impatient

"Dylan, I'm your father." Gerald said, at the same time Merri-Lee started murmuring, "Gerald, no, don't do this!"

"My..._dad_?" Dylan suddenly remembered. 'He left us!' She thought, after remembering the day he walked out. She was only three when it happened, but she remembered it vividly:

_FLASHBACK:_

_"Why are you doing this?" Merri-Lee asked a man who was packing up a beat-up leather suitcase. Three-year-old Dylan sat upright in her green play pen, dressing her Barbie in the latest fashions._

_"You know very well why I'm doing this."_

_"Yeah, I do," She said back, "Your doing it for the rich blonde down the road. You don't care about us anymore. You never cared about me or the girls."_

_"You've always been a good guesser," He said, with a face of no emotion. He walked out of the bedroom, Merri-Lee following behind, but making a pit stop to pick up little Dylan. He opened the shabby front door, pausing to look at Merri-Lee, who had tears streaming down her face._

_Her tears seemed to stop, as Merri-Lee remembered something. "I hope you know what you're doing," she smirked, "that blonde slut down the street isn't as rich as I'm going to be."_

_"Merri-Lee, you're as poor as your dad, his dad, and your dad's dad's dad. Nothing's gonna break that chain. The only thing that attracted me to you is your looks, and now I found something better. Now, I have to go somewhere... better." He said, while walking out the door, "Remember, nothing's gonna break that chain," he chuckled to himself._

_Merri-Lee followed him out, while holding Dylan on her chest. "Know something that's gonna break that chain."_

_Gerald was obviously annoyed at being held up again, so he sighed, turned around, and sighed. "What's that, Merri-Lee?"_

_"A ten year contract with NBC for my own morning talk show."_

_Gerald chuckled again, "Keep on dreaming, keep on dreaming." He got into his car, and raced away quickly on the dusty driveway, leaving a cloud of dust behind him, which clouded around Merri-Lee and her precious daughter, Dylan._

_"Don't worry, pickles,"she whispered into Dylan's tiny ear,"we'll be fine without him" and that was true._

_END FLASHBACK-_

Dylan was so consumed in her own thoughts that she barely heard Gerald speaking, but she quickly snapped back into the conversation.

"Sweetie, I've always wanted to be part of your life." He said.

"Then why'd you leave?" Dylan screamed back at him, and stomped up the stairs as fast as her wedged DKNY boots could take her, When she got to the top, she looked back down at her father, smirked, just like her mother did ten years ago, and said, "I hope you had a great time with the blonde slut."

**a/n- There it is! This was fun to type, and it's longer then the first one! NEXT CHAPTER: Claire takes a chance in L.A.**


	3. Chapter 3

**a.n.- Grrrrr, Courtney! Just admit you hate the story! JUST BECAUSE YOU PEOPLES ARE MY FRIENDS DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO LIKE IT! Okay, I'm done being mad at you guys (jk, I'm not mad). So, anyway, I didn't get to squeeze Claire into the last chapter, so she'll be starting this one. On with the story! Oh yeah- CHESS CLUB!... CHEEEESS CLUB! DARIUS IS SOOO 'X' COMMUNICATED! Okay, now I'm done.**

Disclaimer- Me don't own anything THING!

The Talent Farm

Hallway

Thursday, April 10

4:33 p.m.

Claire didn't realize what she'd done- until she did it. The door was half-way open, too open. 'Why couldn't it be closed? Why can't I go back to just before I opened the door?' Claire's mind whirred like a machine. Her eyes darted around at 1000 miles per hour. She looked at the wall, the floor, the painting of a pineapple on the wall. Her mind longed for an escape. Her heart longed for her to go in.

She looked at her hand. It was still on the door knob. She pulled it away quickly, as if the door was a snake, waiting to bite her hand. Her eyes still darted. 'There has to be a way out of here!' she thought. 'Ah! The waiting room! I can dart to the waiting room no one will notice... Hmmm, except the receptionist! She'll just think that I finished earl-'

"Claire! Is that you?" Mr. Baimes said from inside the office.

'Oops', Claire thought, 'I guess I waited too long...' Claire took a deep breath and stepped inside. "Yeah it's me Mr. Baimes."

"Ahh, hello Claire. Please come in. My, you sound just like you did on the phone." She laughed heartily, "Come, sit sit. Now, I know why I invited you, so let me tell you."

Claire was about to say 'Okay' when she saw Mr. Baimes morphed into an evil clown!

"CLAAAAIIREE!" The clown screamed, "I AM HERE TO KIIIILL YOU!"

Claire was cowering in a corner when Mr. Baime shape-shifted- AGAIN! This time he was morphed into a blonde cheerleader, uniform and all. Rhinestones on her pompoms spelt the name 'Callie'.Callie broke out into a cheer.

"B-O-O-M! You ain't got no alibi, you de-ad, boom boom, you de-ad!" When she finished she pulled out a gun, and shot Claire straight in the middle of her head. Callie blew on the gun, and walked away.

**a.n.- of course this is a fake start! Here's the real one (FYI- this fake start is dedicated to Courtney and her story when the evil cheerleader Callie shoots Owen! It's not as stupid as it sounds... It's an HSM one, so if you like HSM, check it out!):**

Claire didn't realize what she'd done- until she did it. The door was half-way open, too open. 'Why couldn't it be closed? Why can't I go back to just before I opened the door?' Claire's mind whirred like a machine. Her eyes darted around at 1000 miles per hour. She looked at the wall, the floor, the painting of a pineapple on the wall. Her mind longed for an escape. Her heart longed for her to go in.

She looked at her hand. It was still on the door knob. She pulled it away quickly, as if the door was a snake, waiting to bite her hand. Her eyes still darted. 'There has to be a way out of here!' she thought. 'Ah! The waiting room! I can dart to the waiting room no one will notice... Hmmm, except the receptionist! She'll just think that I finished earl-'

"Claire! Is that you?" Mr. Baimes said from inside the office.

_Oops'_, Claire thought,_ 'I guess I waited too long...' _Claire took a deep breath and stepped inside. "Yeah it's me, Mr. Baimes."

"Ahh, hello Claire. Please come in. My, you sound just like you did on the phone." He laughed heartily, "Come, sit sit. Now, I know why I invited you, so let me tell you. I want you to join The Talent Farm. We'll take you to the top. We schedule auditions, and interviews. What do you say? Do you want to join the ranks of great actors and actresses?"

"Uh, Umm," She stammered. Claire thought. She thought hard. She thought even harder. She thought of everything. _What will Cam think?_, She thought. Of course he'd be mad. But he'd be happy for her. He just wants her to be happy. _But I want_ him_ to be happy! He'll be happy if I'm back home. Ugh! But he also wants me to do what I want, this is what I want! He'll be happy for me, but I want him to be happy! Ahh! My brain hurts. Hey, I'm taking too long. Is he noticing? _Claire looked at Mr. Baimes. He was looking back expectantly, but not in a rushing way. Claire decided to take her time.

She went back to thinking. _What about the Pretty Committee? They'll for sure resent me- just like they did in Dial L! But they got over it, right? They're my friends. They'll be happy. _Claire was satisfied with this, until she thought more about it. _Those girls could turn from my friends into my enemies in a heartbeat, and this is the defibrillator. _These thoughts got Claire mad- very mad. With friends like those, who needs enemies?_ I should do this just to irk Massie_, she thought, the tension rising, _That will show __her who's in charge!_

"Where's the contract?" She asked, out of the blue.

The Block Estate

Saturday, April 12

1:46 p.m.

Massie is gonna be worshipped, not like she had always been, she was going to be worshipped by everyone. She and her friends (all but Dylan and Claire) planned it out. They were going to steal the OCD Tortoise Tammy statue. It was OCD's first Mascot, and it was treasured by the school. Tammy was brought into pep rallies and onto sport games for good luck.

Stealing the Tortoise Tammy may seem like a bad idea, but it's not. They wereྭ going to steal it, and then conveniently find it (they'll leave out the stealing part though). The stupid statue is like a god to the whole school. When they find out it's missing, everyone will be on high alert, so keeping it a secret will be a feat.

Unfortunately, stealing Tammy wasn't the only feat on Massie's mind. Half of the PC is fighting. She didn't know all the details, because the only side of the story was the part she got from Kristen, and Massie still needed Dylan's side of it to actually care a lot.

The problem is that Dylan is nowhere to be found. She wasn't at school on Friday, and for the first time ever since the friday night sleep overs were started, she didn't come. Massie called her cell at least 20 times, and her home phone about 10! She was starting to get mad. Dylan should've known to call her back! She's never done that before, and frankly, Massie was shocked. Massie needed to take her mind off Dylan, so she logged onto iChat to see if anyone was on. Alicia was.

MASSIEKUR: HEY LEESH! STILL STRESSING OVER MATH?

HOLAGURL: LOL- U KNOW ME SO WELL! YAH- MRS. MONTERREY IS LAYING IT ON! ANY WORD FROM DYLAN?

MASSIEKUR: NOPE, NOT YET. STILL KINDA MAD, BUT NOT AS MAD AS K.

HOLAGURL: YAH- K IS OVERREACTING. MAYBE D'S COMP. BROKE.

MASSIEKUR: AND HER PHONE? AND HER BLACKBERRY?

HOLAGURL: FINE, W/E, YOU GOT ME THERE.

Massie's phone started to ring. She looked at the screen to see who it was. _Dylan! _She answered it quickly, all while typing to Alicia.

MASSIEKUR: OMG! D'S CALLING!

"Dylan??? Where have you been?" She sounded more relieved than mad.

"Well, I've been almost everywhere, but now I'm in Kansas."

"_Kansas?_ What the hell are you doing in Kansas?" She sounded mad now.

"I hitchhiked." Dylan sounded sad.

Massie got rid of her mean tone, "Dylan, why?"

"It's a long story."

"I always have time for my friends." Massie was sympathetic and soothing, which was just what her friend needed.

**a.n.- There you go. I have a confession to make guys. The whole time I was writing this, I thought about how much I'd rather be in CHESS CLUB! AND DARIUS THINKS HE CAN GET INTO ADVANCED SCIENCE? Yeah, my friends and I are weird.**

**NEXT CHAPTER: Opens with Massie and Dylan talking, includes a lot more that I can't say.**


	4. Chapter 4

**a.n.- Thank you all for the reviews (except for Clourtney!). I'm not sure that this will be the best chapter ever (probably because I haven't written it yet...). W/E! I'M WRITING IT ANYWAY!**

Topeka, Kansas

Bus Stop 89

Saturday, April 12

1:44 p.m.

"Ew," Dylan said, under her breath, as a fat guy sat down next to her. This distracted her from contemplating why she was there. Why did I run away? She thought, "Life wouldn't have been that bad with Gerald around." The fat guy pulled out a greasy sandwich that was wrapped in paper from his pocket.

"Double ew!" Dylan said, as soft as she could. Unfortunately, this was too soft, and the fat man turned towards her.

"What'd you say?" He said in an accent that Dylan always imagined a trucker's would sound like.

"I said, 'Nice shirt, is it flannel or nylon?'" Dylan didn't care that her words dripped like a broken faucet of sarcasm. The last thing on her mind was the fat trucker's feelings.

"Why, thank you ma'am. It's flannel"

Dylan barely listened to the amazingly obese man. Instead she consumed herself into thoughts again. "Never mind, life would be horrible." She remembered the nights that Gerald came home drunk just as well as she remembered when he left. And he doesn't seem like the type who would go to AA meetings, either. Now she remembered the times he would shirk off dinner with the family, important appointments, and so on.

Right then a middle aged lady sat down next to her. The lady's style was totally 90s, just like her hairdo. "Wait, I know you." Her accent was indescribable, it was so weird. It wasn't southern, like the trucker's. It was like a hillbilly's.

"Yer that Marvil girl, Merri-Lee's daughter." She gushed, "I saw those pittures of you and yer frinds at yer bithday party. Ya'alls were jus so cute!"

Dylan smacked her head. Her friends! They are probably wondering where she was! She looked at her watch. 1:46, not too early or late to call Massie. She took out her new teal Razr (teal was her latest fetish) and hit speed dial one.

"Dylan??? Where have you been?' Massie said before Dylan could talk. "At least she doesn't sound mad," Dylan thought.

"Well, I've been almost everywhere, but now I'm in Kansas." Dylan knew that waterworks were on their way.

"Kansas? Why the hell are you in Kansas?"

"Uh oh, she's mad now. I should've just stayed home." thought Dylan.

Dylan tried to keep the tears from falling out as she spoke, "I hitch hiked" The memories of hearing her mom and dad talking that morning came flooding back. Now the tears were making their way down her face, slowly, but surely.

"Dylan, why?" Massie no longer sounded mean. She sounded like the friend Dylan hoped to hear when she called Massie.

"It's a long story,"

"I always have time for my friends"

After Massie said that, Dylan got up and started walking down the street so that the nosy hillbilly and the flannel wearing trucker couldn't hear her, "I don't know, Mass. Everything was perfect before he came." She was fully sobbing now,"I wish he just left! I wish he never came back!" She continued babbling for a good thirty seconds, until she realized Massie had no clue of what she was talking about, "You must be so confused, Mass."

Massie giggled slightly, "Yeah, but I don't mind. We haven't been that close lately. So what happened. Give me the long version."

"Gawd, I feel like an idiot, walking down a run-down street in Topeka, just because my dad came back."

"Wait, your what came where?"

Dylan felt the tears welling up again, "He came back on Friday. He has a plan or something, I know it! He wants to get rich or something, I don't care. He's taking my mom to court tomorrow," she could barely say the next part,"for full custody!"

"Woah, ehmagawd, you mean, if he wins, you'll live with him?"

"Exactly. I don't know what I'll do if I have to live with him! He's probably... poor."

"Ew, gawd forbid you'll have to live there,"

Dylan loved Massie at that moment, but she still couldn't forget how she could move in with Gerald, "Yeah, there. As in Nebraska!"

Massie gasped, but tried to cover it up by talking right after she did it, "So you won't be in Westchester anymore if he wins?" Dylan heard her words get choked up at the end of her sentence.

"Yeah, that's why I left." She was crying uncontrollably now, "I don't want to leave, Massie! He's not my mom! He's not even my dad!"

Dylan heard Massie click-clacking on her keyboard.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Buying you a first class ticket to NYC. Get to the Topeka airport in two hours. Isaac will be at J.F.K. airport when you get there. We're having an emergency slumber party in your honor.

Dylan was crying again, but this time for joy, "I'm trying to flag a cab already, Mass. Love ya!"

"Join the club!" Were Massie's final words before she hung up.

**a.n.- Finally, I'm done with this chapter! It only took me, what, two weeks? Ha- but at least I updated it. Please review, It makes my day **:-)

**NEXT CHAPTER: Opens with Claire and Massie talking (refer to last chapter if you want to predict what will happen ;-) )**


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